Tuesday, 17 October 2017

72 Hours in Iceland

In April my Mum and I flew to Washington DC via Iceland with Iceland Air. We opted to take advantage of their layover scheme which allows you to add a longer stay in Iceland than your standard layover for no extra cost. I technically spent an extra 24 hours in Iceland as our flight from Reykjavik to Washington DC was cancelled but 96 hours in Iceland doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

During our time in Iceland we stayed in the Skuggi Hotel which was a stones throw away from the centre of Reykjavik. I can highly recommend the hotel, it was modern and had that cool interior style which is prominent in Northern Europe. They also had mini pastries for breakfast which were incredible (and very good crispy bacon). We spent most of our time exploring Reykjavik and visiting some spots on the 'Golden Circle'. Skogafoss and Vik Black Sand Beach were some of my highlights. I put together a mini Golden Circle Tour post which you can view HERE if you are interested.

A warning to those planning on visiting Iceland; you are told it is expensive but that doesn't quite compare to actually paying the price. My Mum and I spent the equivalent of £80 on two burgers and 2 small bottles of beer, so be prepared.

In Reykjavik I highly recommend visiting Reykjavik Roasters for a coffee and at the foot of Eyjafjallajokull (100% copy and pasted the spelling from Google) there is a restaurant named Gamla fjosid where they sell a dish called 'Volcano Soup' and it is FANTASTIC. You also get free refills of soup and it was the cheapest meal I had while in Iceland.

My final piece of advice for those visiting Iceland is to expect flight delays. Not a single flight in going in or out of Reykjavik airport was on time. I spent a good 12 hours waiting for my delayed and then finally cancelled flight and none of the other flights on the boards departed on time; another two were cancelled. Despite this I would 100% visit Iceland for a third time. I am dying to see Northern and Eastern Iceland and want to see the Northern Lights in all their glory.